LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 170th Anniversary of the sign-
ing of the Buffalo Creek Treaty between the Seneca Nation of Indians and
the United States of America on May 20, 1842

WHEREAS, With due cause and proper resolve, this Legislative Body honors
the Seneca Nation of Indians as it commemorates the 170th Anniversary of
the signing of the Buffalo Creek Treaty of 1842; and
WHEREAS, A celebratory event will be held on the historic lands of the
Buffalo Creek reservation on Friday, May 18, 2012, at the Burchfield
Nature Center, in West Seneca, New York; and
WHEREAS, The Buffalo Creek Treaty event is held annually to commem-
orate the signing of the 1842 Compromise Treaty that recognized and
forever restored the Seneca Nation territories of Cattaraugus and Alle-
gany to the possession of the Seneca; the celebration memorializes the
significant agreement between the Seneca and the United States govern-
ment to respect and acknowledge the sovereign lands and ensure the Sene-
ca Nation of Indians federally-protected treaty rights; and
WHEREAS, The Seneca Nation of Indians is a founding member and one of
the six tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Haudeno-
saunee) who own and occupy aboriginal lands in western New York State
that were set aside by the Treaty of Canandaigua of 1794; and
WHEREAS, The Seneca Nation of Indians has a total population of over
7,800 enrolled members and currently holds title to multiple territories
(Cattaraugus, Allegany, Oil Spring, Niagara and Buffalo) in New York
State; and
WHEREAS, The construction of New York State's Erie Canal in the early
1800s - a water route linking trade and transportation between New York
City and the Great Lakes - made nearby Haudenosaunee lands very attrac-
tive to land speculators and fueled removal threats against the Seneca
Indians; and
WHEREAS, Eight years after the enactment of the federal "Indian
Removal Act of 1830", four Seneca reservations remained: Allegany,
Cattaraugus, Buffalo Creek, and Tonawanda; and
WHEREAS, Efforts to remove Senecas from their lands culminated with
the signing of the notorious Buffalo Creek Treaty of 1838, in which all
of the Seneca lands were sold to the Ogden Land Company, and the Seneca
were to move out west, to Indian Territory, in lands that are now
Kansas; and
WHEREAS, This treaty was notorious, even at the time, for being
blatantly fraudulent as bribery, forgery, and deception were used to
obtain Seneca member signatures; and
WHEREAS, Almost immediately, the Seneca people refused to abide by the
treaty, and diplomatic efforts were made to negotiate a new treaty; and
WHEREAS, In 1842, a compromise treaty was secured, known as the Second
Treaty of Buffalo Creek and laid the foundation for much of the Feder-
al-Iroquois relations throughout the 19th century; and
WHEREAS, The Buffalo Creek Treaty of 1842 saved for the Seneca people
the Allegany and Cattaraugus reservations, and has governed the Seneca
people for more than one and a half centuries; and
WHEREAS, The Buffalo Creek Treaty of 1842 guarantees the Seneca Nation
and people sovereignty; and
WHEREAS, The Seneca Nation has a strong record of creating successful
business enterprises in Western New York, employing over 6,500 members
and non-native Americans, generating over $1 billion in economic growth
and revenues to the western New York region; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 170th Anniversary of the signing of the Buffalo Creek

Treaty of 1842 between the Seneca Nation of Indians and the United
States of America; and be it further
RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Robert Odawi Porter, President of the Seneca Nation of Indi-
ans; Diane Kennedy Murth, Clerk of the Seneca Nation of Indians; and
Richard Nephew, Chair of the Seneca Nation Council.